Official SpaceX livestream on X: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OwxWYzDXjWGQ
Spaceflight Now and Space Devs links added. I've also fixed the dateful link. I think it might have been the & that was also messed up and may be resolved differently by different browser - anyway I hope it is fixed now.
Thanks. The date link was a bit wrong but seems to give the correct result: https://dateful.com/convert/utc?t=2011&d=2024-02-23T04:11
I didn't notice the t=2011 argument and just appended T04:11 to the d argument. Seems to work ok for me.
OCISLY towed by Debra C is making 5.5 knots and currently about 60km (30 nautical miles) off the Mexican coast: https://www.vesselfinder.com/?mmsi=368351350 (MARMAC 304 is the original registered name of OCISLY)
Support ship Go Beyond is about 4 hours out of Long Beach on its way to "LZ :)" https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9622655
Time for another Starlink mission. This one's an evening launch from Vandenburg. It will be the 19th flight of booster B1061.
| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-02-23 04:11 | | --- | --- | | Scheduled for (local) | 2024-02-22 20:11 (PST) | | Mission | Starlink Group 7-15 | | Launch site | SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA. | | Vehicle | Falcon 9 | | Booster | B1061 19th Flight | | Landing | ADSD Of Course I Still Love You at T+00:08:23 | | Inclination | 53° Why? | | Payload | 22 x Starlink V2 Mini deployed at T+01:02:17 | | Customer | SpaceX | | Mission success criteria | Successful launch and delivery of payload to low earth orbit|
Webcasts
| Stream | Link | | --- | --- | | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQWd7EnE8MU | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikloLxNHxvU | SpaceX | https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-7-15 | SpaceFlight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmHTtpdEoTA | The Space Devs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySJ2qEwoxkE
> > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmHTtpdEoTA > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySJ2qEwoxkE
Broadcast has started now.
SpaceX live streaming starts at 12:24 UTC here: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1dRKZEWQvrXxB
The flight profile here https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-2 does not say there will be a flip. But concludes with "Excitement Guaranteed". So anything could happen.
If it gets that far then I'd imagine that it would attempt to flip. Although I do think I recall something said about not doing a flip to ensure that there's nothing that needs to be recovered. This would mean they don't need recovery ships in the area.
From: https://www.faa.gov/space/compliance_enforcement_mishap
When does the vehicle-type involved in the mishap return to flight? A return to flight operations of the vehicle type involved in the mishap is ultimately based on public safety. The operator plays a significant role in the process to return to operations and is responsible for submitting a final mishap investigation report to the FAA for review and approval that details needed corrective actions. All required corrective actions must be implemented prior to the next flight unless otherwise approved. Based on the nature of the corrective actions, the operator may be required to submit either a license modification request or a new license application. These actions may occur concurrently. In summary, the FAA will not allow a return to flight operations until it determines that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety or any other aspect of the operator’s license. This is standard practice for all mishap investigations.
My take is that the ring may not survive. Stage separation may damage it beyond reuse. Having it be detachable means they can swap it out. It would be a shame to scrap a complete booster just because the top end got a little bent.
I don't think Chuck has written that particular book yet, but it would seem to fit well into his "in the Butt" series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Tingle there's no indication here that Scott Tingle is related to Chuck.
YouTube Video
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Recent news suggests that SpaceX are pivoting to hot-staging instead of the flip maneuver for getting Starship away from the booster. Looking at the Titan II hot staging it seems like it would be a violent and explosive event. How could this be mitigated? A hardened cover on top of the booster would be a significant weight penalty. Do the expected gains really outweigh the additional weight?
At stage separation how horizontal is Starship? If there was no vertical moment then how significant would the gravity loss actually be?
AFAIK most of the gravity loss is in the first few second of a launch but I don't have any idea what you are losing by the time you get to stage separation.